Every now and then you get a Merchie ship crewed by samurai. In my current PBeM an allied sub surfaced to beat on a merchie and as soon as the sub surfaced the merchie pounded on the sub until it fled without the merchie suffering a single hit. I was expecting to see a burning hulk of a merchie and was very happily surprised...

I can be persuaded to believe that the merchant crew allowed their enthusiasm to convince them to fire at a target beyond their range. It is possible that once a target has been sighted within max visual range it is easier to track beyond that range...

There is no problem. When two ships are picked to engage each other, one is randomly picked to shoot first. That one is also listed as "engages" t'other. Both ships get a chance to fire - even if no weapon turns out to have the range.